Fine-tuning the treacly, Baby Boomer, 60s-holdover race coverage it excels at, the New York Times tells us "Voices Reflect Rising Sense of Racial Optimism" (Sunday, May 3, A1).
"I go to a gym where there are a number of black people," Mr. Schmidt, a white man, chirps. "We don't often communicate. They tend to have their own circle of friends. But now, there's been more communication. Now you have an opener. After the election, I started saying hello. I said, 'Hey, what do you think of Obama, about our new president?' "
"Now I'm getting more of a, 'Hey, how you doing?' than I was a year ago," chimes Mr. Chaison, a black man.
The Times does not bother to check in with a single Latino voice. Funny thing. Latinos are now the largest racial minority. Have been for almost a decade. But, of course. For the Times - and most of the media - "Race Relations" means "Are white and black people chatting along fine at the office water cooler, the Pilates class, and the corner bar?"
In an interview for my upcoming book, Janet Murgia, CEO of La Raza tells me:
"The Pew Hispanic Center conducted a poll last year that found that two thirds of Latinos believe that the atmosphere for all of us has gotten worse because of the immigration debate, and fully half of Latinos said that they had personally experienced discrimination. Hate crimes against Latinos are up more than 30 percent over three years, and the number of hate groups targeting us has increased by nearly 50 percent. This is a crisis for our community and for the country."
If you really wanted to learn something worthwhile about race relations from the Times, just don't read the articles labeled as such! For smarter, more nuanced tidbits on race visit Linda Greenhouse's excellent article on David Souter, which grazes his thinking on the landmark Louisville de-segregation cases. Or examine its recent article on immigrants in the suburbs, "Struggling to Rise in Suburbs Where Failing Means Fitting In."
Enough with the fluffy, therapeutic coverage on how Obama makes whites and blacks feel. Please. Elected leaders and the media must start asking whether public investment over the next couple years -- including the 2009 $787 billion economic stimulus package -- will further racial inequality and segregation, much like Eisenhower's post-war housing and highway programs did, spawning segregated suburbs for decades to come. As America rebuilds its "opportunity infrastructure," if now is not the time to take a fresh, thoughtful look at race, then when?